Fluid purifier



1111112 71938. A MURPHY 2,111,936

FLUID PURIFIER Filed Jan. 14, 1955 3 INVENTOR.

5 BY 1/71/ 455 A. Mu/QPm;

Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UETED STATES ATENT OFFICE FLUID PURIFIER James A. Murphy, Hamilton, Ohio Application January 14, 1935, Serial No. 1,647

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in r other gaseous water, oil and the provision of an improved separator which will be more efllcient in operation.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a purifier for use with gaseous fluids for separating impurities from said fluids and in which the separated impurities are prevented from again mixing or contacting with the gaseous fluid.

A further object of this inven vision of a separator or purifier 21 tion is the pros above referred in construction yet very eificient Other objects and advantages in operation. of the present invention should be readily apparent by reference to the following specification considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof and it is to be understood that any modifications may be in structural details there shown ade in the exact and described,

within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the separator or purifier embodying the improvements of this invention Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken in a plane behind the plane of elevati on of Fig. 1 and illustrating the internal construction of the device;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line .-i-3 of 2; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig.

3 but taken on a plane above that of Fig. 3 as seen, for example,

from line 4-4 on Fig. 2.

Throughout the several views similar reference characters are note the same or similar parts.

of the drawing employed to de- Separators or purifiers, particularly for use with compressed air, in the past have made no provision for preventing the further commingling of the separated water, oil or other impurities with the incoming gaseous fluids.

It is true that the separated material was not all picked up but a sufiicient quantity thereof was again assimilated by the gaseous fluid to prevent said gaseous fluid coming from the separator or purifier from being entirely free of said impurities. By the present invention there has been provided a mechanism by which the separated material is prevented from again contacting the incoming gaseous fluid and thereby insuring a fluid from the separator that is freer of said foreign impurities than is possible from prior art structures.

Specifically, and referring to the drawing, the improved device of this invention comprises an upper housing It, a lower housing II and an intermediate plate l2. The upper housing In is provided at one end with a flange l3 lying on a flange It integral with the intermediate plate I 2. A suitable gasket (not shown) is disposed between these flanges and secured therein by bolts it which extend through one flange and are threaded into the other flange. The other end of the intermediate plate l2 contacts a flange I6 formed on the lower housing H and there is disposed therebetween a gasket (not shown) to render said joint air and water tight. The said flange it and therefore the housing II is secured to the intermediate plate l2 by suitable machine screws or the like H.

The upper housing It, see Fig. 2, is hollow and in efiect constitutes a separator chamber l8 which is closed at the upper end by a wall l9. Threaded into the upper wall 19 and in a boss 20 thereon is one end of a screw-threaded rod 2| depending centrally of the separator chamber l8. The rod 2| has spacedly secured thereto a plurality of perforated baffles 22, 23 and 24 having the perforations therein graduated as to size or diameter by decreasing in size, from the lower end of the chamber to the upper end thereof. Disposed above each of the bafiles is a spider 25 each having at the center thereof a hub 26 which is of greater thickness than the spider itself and which hub contacts with its baffle at the center thereof around the rod 2i.

This hub 26 spaces the spider as a whole from its baflle for a purpose later on to be made clear. Each spider and its ballle plate is secured to the rod between a pair of opposite nuts 21 and 28 threaded on the rod.

The lowermost baffle plate 22 is provided with perforations only for a short distance from its center or the axis of the rod 2| as seen most clearly in Fig. 3, while the other bafiie plates 23 and 24 are perforated substantially throughout their area. Underlying the bafile plate 22 is a receptacle 29 having at its upper end a peripheral flange 39 which contacts with the undersurface of the bafiie plate 22 around its periphery and in effect provides a passageway 3! between the inner surface of the housing IE and outer surface of the receptacle 2d. The vertical wall 32 of the receptacle between its bottom 33 and peripheral flange 353 is provided with perforations whereby communication is had between the chamber 8 and interior of the receptacle 29. Disposed within said interior of the receptacle 29 is a quantity of copper threads or wires of very small diameter and known as a copper tangle and indicated in the drawing by the reference numeral 34. The reason for making this tangle of copper is to prevent same from rusting or deteriorating by action of the water thereon which is separated from the gaseous fluid as it passes through the device. The bottom 33 of the receptacle 29 is provided with a perforation 35 communicating with a spout or short section of pipe 35 depending from the base of the receptacle. The lower end of the said spout 36 terminates just short of the upper surface of the intermediate plate l2 or in a duct or passage 31 formed in said upper surface. The receptacle 29 is secured in position on the rod 26 by a nut 45 threaded on said rod and engaging the undersurface of the bottom 33 thereof.

The housing H] is provided just above its flange i3 with a boss 38 having formed therethrough a bore 39 for one end of a pipe ,9 which is the intake pipe for the gaseous fluid from which the impurities are to be separated. As will be seen from Fig. 3, the housing it? and chamber 18 are substantially cylindrical and the inlet is formed tangential thereto thereby causing the incoming gaseous fluid to be swirled within the chamber 18 before passing upwardly therethrough. The upper wall l9 of the chamber and its boss 29 is provided with a threaded perforation t! for the discharge pipe 2 through which the purified gaseous fluid passes to the point of use such as a tool, sand blast machine or the like. The swirling of the gaseous fluid in the chamber below the lowermost baffle plate 22 and receptacle 29 causes a large quantity of the water, oil and other impurities therein to be discharged by centrifugal force which is collected on the inner wall of the chamber l8 and outer surface of the spout 36 and trickles downwardly onto the upper surface 3 of the intermediate plate 52. The gaseous fluid then passes through the perforated vertical wall of the container 25% into and through the copper tangle 34 of the container. The fluid then passes upwardly through the perforations in the baffie plates 22, 23 and 24 to the pipe or conduit 32. The gaseous fluid is forced to travel through a quantity of the copper tangle 34 because only the central portion of the baffle plate 22 is provided with the perforations as pointed out above and as illustrated in Fig. 3. The force or pressure behind the gaseous fluid in being forced through the baffle plates flexes said plates to the extent permitted by the spiders 25 and due to their surface contact with the said gaseous fluid, collect moisture, oil and the like from the fluid. When the pressure is shut off as frequently happens with air-operated equipment the inherent spring in said baffle plates causes same to assume their normal position and thereby dis charge the moisture and the like collected thereon. The major portion of the moisture and the like left in the gaseous fluid after the swirling thereof is removed by the copper tangle and flows is pivotaliy mounted an arm El.

downwardly to the base of the container 33 and is discharged through the spout 36 to the duct 31 or a point just above the top surface 43 of the plate l2. This moisture or the like is therefore completely enclosed and shut off from the incoming gaseous fluid and can, therefore, not be picked up by said fluid.

The intermediate plate 12 as above noted is provided with an upper surface 43 which in effect constitutes the base for the separator chamber i8. This upper surface is dished so as to drain to the center 45 thereof from which point the duct or passage 3? extends. This duct or passage 3'l terminates or empties into a passage 46 formed vertically through the said intermediate plate. The intermediate plate is provided at a point remote from the passage 46 with a discharge passage ll to which is connected a discharge pipe 58.

The lower housing is in effect a trap housing and has its interior hollow as at 49 and constituting the trap chamber. The housing II is provided with a vertical passage 58 which communicates at one end with the passage 46 and at its other end with a horizontal passage 5|. The port 5! in turn empties into a second vertical passage 52 formed through the bottom 53 of the housing H and through a boss or lug 54 upstanding from the said housing bottom 53 and interiorly of the chamber.

The intermediate plate i2 is provided with an aperture in which is mounted a valve seat 55 having a valve controlled aperture therethrough and through which aperture communication is had between the chamber 49 and passage 41. The valve seat 55 has integral therewith a lug 56 to which The arm 51 carries a valve 58 for closing the aperture in the valve seat 55 and the arm 5'! has further secured thereto an inverted bucket 59 which is utilized for actuating the arm 57 about its pivot.

The operation of the discharge trap is readily understood by those conversant with this art and is briefly as follows. The moisture, oil and the like, separated from the gaseous fluid while passing through the separator chamber I8, is directed to the duct 3?, passage 45, 50, 5| and 52 to the chamber 49 where it is collected. Simultaneously with the downward flow of the abovementioned moisture and the like is the gaseous fluid which acts on the undersurface of the bucket bottom for raising same to the dottedline position shown in Fig. 2 and holding said bucket in said position. The water, moisture and the like continues to build up in the chamber 49 until it reaches a point that the said bucket is completely submerged whereupon the bucket by its own weight drops to the solid line position and removes the valve 58 from its seat. The pressure new acts on the collected moisture, water and the like for forcing same through the aperture in the valve seat 55 into the passage 41 and discharge pipe 48 where it is directed to a suitable receptacle, sewer or the like. As soon as suflicient moisture and the like has been discharged from the chamber ii! the bucket 59 is again returned to the dotted-line position.

In order to prevent large pieces of foreign material and sediment from entering the discharge chamber 45% and interfering with the valve 58 being properly seated there is provided in the passage 51 a suitable screen 60. This screen is inserted in the passage and may be removed therefrom for cleaning purposes and the like through a suitable aperture 6| at the outer end of said passage. This aperture is threaded and normally carries a pipe plug or the like 62 for closing the outer end of the passage.

From the foregoing it will now be evident that there has been provided a separator or purifier for gaseous fluids which is relatively simple in construction and which will prevent the incoming gaseous fluid from picking up moisture, water and the like separated from the gaseous fluid previously passed therethrough.

What is claimed is: V

1. In a combined separator and trap mechanism the combination of a pair of superimposed housings respectively forming a separator chamber and a trap chamber, an intermediate plate between said housings and on opposite sides thereof completing said separator chamber and trap chamber, means within the separator chamber for removing moisture and the like from the gaseous fluid as it passes therethrough, a substantially closed receptacle within the separator chamber through which the gaseous fluid passes for receiving the moisture, means for conveying the moisture from the receptacle to the trap chamber, and filter means within the receptacle for removing moisture from the gaseous fluid.

2. In a combined separator andtrap mechanism the combination of a pair of superimposed housings respectively forming a separator chamber and a trap chamber, an intermediate plate between said housings and on opposite sides thereof completing said separator chamber and trap chamber, means within the separator chamber for removing moisture and the like from the gaseous fluid as it passes therethrough, a substantially closed receptacle within the separator chamber through which the gaseous fluid passes for receiving the moisture, means for conveying the moisture from the receptacle to the trap chamber, filter means within the receptacle for removing moisture from the gaseous fluid, and automatically operable means within the trap chamber for automatically, periodically discharging the moisture therefrom.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of a housing having therein a separating chamber through which a gaseous fluid passes, a baiile within said chamber for remov ing moisture and the like from the gaseous fluid, said chamber having a space belowthe baffle into which the gaseous fluid is injected before passing through the bafiie, a receptacle adjacent the baflie through which the gaseous fluid passes for collecting the moisture and the like separated from the fluid by the baffle, closed means for conveying said moisture and the like from the receptacle through the space initially entered by the gaseous fluid and thereby preventing the incoming gaseous fluid from picking up the moisture and the like previously separated from the fluid, a trap associated with the housing and chamber below the separating chamber to which the separated liquid is conveyed from the receptacle, and means within the trap chamber for automatically discharging the liquid and the like therefrom.

JAMES A. MURPHY. 

